Suspect in UnitedHealth murder to fight extradition
ALTOONA, Pennsylvania – The 26-year-old man accused of gunning down UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan intends to fight his extradition to New York to face murder charges from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, his defense lawyer told a judge at a hearing on Tuesday.
The suspect, Luigi Mangione, was also denied bail for the second time, a day after he was taken into custody at a fast food restaurant following a sprawling five-day manhunt.
As he entered the courthouse surrounded by officers, Mangione shouted in the direction of journalists, yelling in part, “…completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people!” It was not clear to what he was referring.
Mangione’s refusal to waive extradition on Tuesday triggers a formal process that could last weeks, though he is unlikely to succeed in preventing his eventual transfer, according to legal experts.
Investigators are working to retrace Mangione’s movements in Pennsylvania over the past few days, as well as determine if he was assisted by an accomplice either before or after the shooting outside a midtown hotel.
Mangione was spotted at a McDonald’s on Monday by an employee who thought he resembled the gunman in surveillance images released by police. A gun, clothing, and fake identifications found in his possession all closely match those used by the shooter, police stated.
He faces gun and forgery charges in Pennsylvania and was arraigned in Altoona on Monday. An arrest warrant for Mangione filed on Tuesday in Manhattan criminal court listed one count of second-degree murder, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument.
While the motive behind the gunman’s actions remains unclear, police have indicated that Thompson, the CEO of one of the nation’s largest health insurers, was deliberately targeted.
Mangione has been reported to suffer from chronic back pain that significantly limited his daily activities. His profile on X features a background image of an X-ray depicting what appears to be screws and plates surgically inserted in his lower back.
An employee at TrueCar mentioned that Mangione worked at the car buying website as a data engineer from 2022 to late 2023. In mid-2023, he took about two months off for what was described by an employee’s manager as back-related issues.
The employee described Mangione as “incredibly smart” and very friendly to his co-workers. He noted that the company provided employees with health insurance options through UnitedHealth as well as other choices, including Aetna.
From January through June 2022, Mangione lived at the Surfbreak co-living community, which is similar to an adult dormitory, where he engaged in activities like leading a book club and participating in surfing, hiking, and rock climbing, according to reports.
The founder of the group, R.J. Martin, shared that Mangione’s pain persisted for years, caused by misaligned vertebrae that led to compression of his spinal cord. He eventually left for the mainland for surgery.
However, he went “radio silent” in June or July, as Martin recounted.
At one point, Mangione suggested the group’s book club read the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski – the Unabomber – as a joke, according to Martin.
When arrested, Mangione was found in possession of his own manifesto that allegedly provided insight into his motives, according to police. Reports indicate that an internal New York City Police analysis of the handwritten document concluded that Mangione perceived the killing as a challenge to the corruption within the health care industry.
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